We're in the midst of the holiday season and the coffee-picking season here in Boquete. As our property is in the midst of coffee fields, we hear throughout the day "chirupping" sounds that baffled us at first until we realized they were sounds of the indigenous Ngobe-Bugle coffee pickers, communicating among themselves from afar. It's not an unpleasant sound, resembling that of confused birds. In any case, the workers are hard at picking, and the fields are buzzing with activity. So is the town. School just let out for three months, vacation conveniently coinciding the coffee picking so that more field hands are available. Everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit: decorations cover even the most humble casas, and the town square is awash with lights. The number of events announced daily via e-mail is staggering.

I haven't written as much about Boquete coffee growing as I should. Many expats who have relocated to the area grow coffee on small fincas (farms) and have their own special coffees and packaging, most of which is sold locally or within the country. Most Panamanian coffee growers of long standing and substantial property holdings sell their coffee all over the world, and Boquete is a prized location for coffee brokers. The Rogers Family Coffee Company (www.rogersfamilyco.com), a major supplier of Starbucks and known for its gourmet coffee, long has had a coffee operation here (where Tony, Dalys' husband, is employed) and recently has built its own beneficio (coffee processing plant) in the nearby Jaramillo community of Boquete. Hacienda Esmeralda, owned by the Peterson family, is the most famous, however. If you have a chance, take a look at their website, www.haciendaesmeralda.com, to read their history and that of the enterprise. In 2010, their special geisha coffee was the top coffee in the world, selling for $170 a pound. The current family matriarch, Susan Peterson, serves on the Foundation Council of Bid 4 Boquete, so I've come to know her and her husband Price well. The stories of their life here for over 30 years, raising three children miles outside the town proper without even a telephone, and having to ride horses into town for necessities, are fascinating.

Having been such early inhabitants, the Petersons also are big property holders in the area. In addition to their coffee and dairy farms, they have property downtown, a piece of which they donated several years ago for the construction of a new Boquete library, along with a sizable monetary gift from the family foundation. The new library, which also has public computers and space for community meetings and art exhibitions, is now a reality.  It's a gorgeous, modern, three-story building with lots of glass. Moreover, it has the distinction of being the only lending library in Panama. Buying books, organizing them, processing library cards, organizing literacy classes, etc. has been a big undertaking, but the expat community, dozens of members of which are regular volunteers, has been of immeasurable help. The library also had a Peace Corps volunteer trained in library science for a time. My good friend Marjorie Sarner, a U.S.-educated Panamanian married to an American, who is member of the Library Board of Directors, reports that getting the library fully functioning has been a mad house, the very concept being so new to Panamanians. She laughingly told me recently that they had to disable the elevators except when transporting books, disabled persons, or equipment because the children want to ride them relentlessly. And when the elevators break or malfunction in any way, getting them serviced (you will not be surprised to hear) is a devil of a task.

Tourism is on the upswing, with the major tourist season beginning in January. There also is a steady stream of new expats. However, many appear to be renting rather than buying, whether for reasons of a trial period (very smart, as some people just can't make it) or limited funds no one knows. Prices definitely are up but still low by U.S. standards, particularly labor. We have a number of new restaurants that are exceptionally good, and the new trade agreement between the U.S. and Panama promises to bring U.S. beef here free of import duties. I believe I've mentioned that Panamanian beef, because it is grass fed and therefore very low in fat, is better for you but tough and tasteless. We do long for a good steak every now and then. Larry also waxes poetic about raw oysters and boiled peanuts occasionally, neither of which is available here.

The tree is up, and I wrapped gifts this morning after polishing off a press release for the big upcoming Bid 4 Boquete extravaganza. Now on to the Christmas day menu. It's a bit more complicated this year. Last year my neighbor/housekeeper Dalys and her family dropped by on Christmas day to spread cheer and were talked into staying for a bite. They clearly enjoyed themselves, so I decided to formally invite them for the midday meal this year. That was when Dalys told me that her son and his wife from Panama City would be visiting, as would be a nephew and his girlfriend from Canada. So our guest list has swelled from three (Doc, Charly, and Ramon) to thirteen, plus two babies and me and Larry. (Dalys and her husband Tony have four children still at home, and one of them, Margarita, has a baby, so it was a long list to begin with.) With only one oven, it'll be a challenge to produce a turkey, a ham, and various vegetable casseroles anticipated by the usuals. I'm hoping the big group will remind me of wonderful Christmases at Richard and Nellie's. Only this time, I will be Nellie.

Holiday greetings to all from me, Larry, Chyna, Finnegan, and Kitty Kitty.♠